Success in cultivation of a home gardens can be greatly increased by planting different seeds at their optimum seed spacing and seed depth. An apparatus which can accurately and easily mark seed spacing, planting depth and, optionally, row spacing is therefore desired.
Most home gardens include several types of seeds which are planted within a small area. Accordingly, a compact apparatus is desired which is capable of marking the optimum spacing and seed depth for a variety of seed types.
A home garden may be planted by adults or young children. An apparatus and method for teaching young children to plant a garden should incorporate simple tools appropriate for young children, as well as a planting system which is easily understood and executed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,627 issued to Adams, et al. discloses a seed planting device constucted of a flat strip pointed at one end with a seed mounted on the underside of a tonque bent outwardly from the plane of the strip. This device provides an apparatus to plant one seed at a desired depth. However, the Jenkins device provides no guidance for accurately determining the spacing between seed rows or seed spacing within a row. Further, the device cannot plant more than one type of seed. Nor can the depth of the seed hole be varied for different type of seeds.
Other devices, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,208, issued to Nockleby, includes a more complex apparatus which furrows, plants and covers a seed bed, while simultaneously providing visual markings which identify the seeded portions of the bed. To change the planting depth, the user must adjust a plow blade to the desired planting depth for one type of seed. Then the apparatus must be adjusted to feed the seeds into the seed chute at a predetermined rate which controls seed spacing within a row. Thus, these complex apparatuses lack flexibility and cannot be used to plant more than one type of seed at a time. Additionally, the size of the apparatuses diminishes their adaptability for planting a home garden with a variety of types of seeds within an area as small as several square feet.